Second-Career Modified Win At Track Of Champions For DRG

Column By: RAY ROGERS / RPW – FONDA, NY – Saturday afternoon, the Fonda Speedway Museum and Hall of Fame hosted the 2017 inductions ceremonies in front of a full house.

Those inductees included drivers Jerry Cook, Earl Mewhorter, Jim Luke, John Constantino, John Koller and Kieth Tesiero Sr., car owners Jake Spraker R.C, Putman, and Jim Magielda, Speedway photographer Clancy Miller, track contributor Warren Roosevelt Sr. and Pioneer Award recipient Frank Trinkaus.

The second annual Bruce Dostal Dedication to Fonda Speedway awards went to Frank Blanchard, Corey White, Chuck Congdon and Shawn”Chim” Chiuminato.

Race Pro Weekly would like to congratulate all those inducted and honored on and Saturday.

A very nice crowd filled the grandstands for a nostalgic night of racing at the “Track of Champions” Saturday evening. Heat race winners were Frank Twing, Kenny Gates and AJ Walters in Pro Stocks, Darwin Greene, Shaun Pangman, and Pep Corradi in Modifieds and Chad Edwards, Tim Hartman Jr, and Tony Farone in Sportsman.

Ken Hollenbeck put another check next to his name in the record books by winning the 4-Cylinder feature. Stephen Young took the top spot in the Street Stock feature. It was his third on the season at Fonda and Travis Billington claimed the Novice Sportsman feature.

The Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series was in town Saturday, and boy do they put on a great show. Their feature winners were Rob Sanford in Modified and John” the Dancing Bear” Constantino in Sportsman. Constantino, who after 46 years at the “Track of Champions,” is still scoring wins. That’s just one reason he was inducted into the Hall of Fame earlier in the day.

Ivan Joslin once again showed that ‘never say die attitude’ by fighting his way to another win in the Pro Stock division, He was followed to the checkers by Jay Casey, Jason Casey, Kenny Gates and AJ Walters.

” The Amazing Darwineno,” Darwin Greene, took the green and never looked back in the Modified feature, scoring his second feature win of his career at Fonda. Josh Hohenforst, Justin Boehler, Tim Fuller and Ronnie Johnson rounded out the top five.

Rocky Warner delivered win number five of the season to car owner and new Hall of Fame member Jake Spraker at Fonda Saturday. Rocky was followed to the line by Chad Edwards, Tim Hartman Jr., Tony Farone and Mark Mortensen.

After the action on the racing surface wrapped up, I headed to the pit area to see how Darwin Greene was feeling.

“Freakin’ amazing,” he said. “I’ve dreamed about winning here at Fonda since I was a kid. Now I have two wins. This is great.”

As we were chatting, Josh Hohenforst stopped to congratulate Darwin on his win. What a great act of sportsmanship. Both drivers had a few laughs and recounted the nights events. Hohenforst has been having an outstanding season thus far, and Saturday, he kicked on the afterburner and charged from the eighth starting spot to finish second.

“Going to Eldora was a great experience,” he said. “I learned some things out there that I think are really gonna help me in the future, especially here at Fonda.”

Both drivers are ready to take on the outsiders headed to the track Wednesday night for “The Jack,” a tribute to Fonda’s greatest all-time feature winner, Jack Johnson.

Wednesday’s card will feature a 50-lap $5,000-to-win Modified event along with a 30-lap $1,000-to-win GRIT Series race and the fan-favorite Hondo Classic, a 30-lap feature for the Pro Stocks.

Race Pro Weekly and the Fonda Speedway Museum will be hosting a meet and greet with two of Fonda’s most popular drivers, Ronnie Johnson and Rocky Warner, at 5:30 that night.

Don’t forget to wear your Orange in honor of the “Jumper” and get $2 off your admission price.

It’s gonna be a great night of racing so get out of work a bit early and join us in celebrating the career of one of Dirt’s greatest drivers.